One of the biggest considerations for this move is which neighborhood to settle into. Chelsea, Upper West Side, Financial District, Murray Hill, Morningside Heights, etc. etc. There are upsides and downsides to everything I've looked up so far and it really isn't all that easy choosing. What I have determined are what my "must-haves" are to help determine what options are really viable. So, here they are:
Must-Haves
1. Price (we are looking in the 1800-2400 price point for a true one bedroom)
2. Safety
3. Easy Commute
Bonuses
1. Lively, social neighborhood (bars and restaurants)
2. Nearby Central Park (maybe it all is?)
I suppose it would help to know where I'm going to work, but I don't. So...mostly we are basing it off of Columbia University's location, which is technically in Morningside Heights/Harlem (116th Street and Broadway)... which I'm not too keen on, however I do hear it is an up-and-coming neighborhood! No?
Well, not knowing much, I set off to Google. And here is what I came up with:
Gramercy/Murray Hill:
34th St. to 40th St., East River to Madison Ave.
Really cute and safe and is filled with young professionals and is pretty well priced. It’s decidedly unhip, which may be why Murray Hill is $500 to $1,000 cheaper per month than most of the surrounding neighborhoods. But it’s extremely safe, the schools are good, and its residences are modern and well maintained (if architecturally middling). The famously fratty neighborhood gets a little extra flavor from its excellent Indian, Korean, and Sichuan restaurants. And though transit access can be a problem in the neighborhood’s eastern reaches, the eventual completion of the Second Avenue subway will solve that problem. The league-average hood is mostly bereft of bars and restaurants despite being rebranded as the more fashionable “NoMad”. The houses and apartment buildings around the park are some seriously coveted real estate, since ownership is still the only way to make it through the gates of the park; Rockefellers and their ilk live here. The area north and east of the park (Murray Hill) is residential and not particularly interesting to tourists, though the Morgan Library, with its spectacular new renovation, is to the northwest.
Financial District:
Chambers St. to southern tip of Manhattan, East River to Broadway
is a little more expensive but has nicer buildings. I don't think the neighborhood has the charm some other places do. As quiet, safe, and conveniently located as Tribeca, but without much neighborhood life; it can feel abandoned at night.
Upper West Side:
59th St. (excluding Columbus Circle) to 110th St., Central Park West to Hudson River
is great and super cheap and safe if you stay below 116th. Alex Schwartz lives up there actually on 106th. Mimi lives here near Lincoln Center. Some of the most desirable property in the city is on Central Park West, but Amsterdam Avenue is a morass of mid-rises and much of the neighborhood lacks street life. Historically the heart of liberal, intellectual, political New York (the home of Bella Abzug and John Lennon), the Upper West Side has undergone considerable gentrification in recent years, with the influx of chain stores and the advent of the Time-Warner Center (the grandly named Shops at Columbus Circle is just another upscale chain mall, though it has some fabulous restaurants hidden away in its upper reaches). Still, the neighborhood remains funky, cranky, and relatively diverse--not to mention family-friendly (it is, perhaps, the stroller capital of Manhattan). Bounded by Riverside Park (overlooking the Hudson) to the west and Central Park to the east, the neighborhood is exceptionally culturally rich, even for Manhattan. Watch Shakespeare in the Park , or hang out at the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon, in Central Park opposite the Dakota, where the Beatle lived and died; while away an afternoon drinking a glass of wine, listening to music and watching the yachts, the roller-bladers, the walkers and runners and dog-walkers in the Riverside Park Boat Basin; check out the Children's Museum and the American Museum of Natural History (with its fabulous dinosaur exhibits and the gorgeous Rose Planetarium); watch ballet or opera at Lincoln Center (in summer, you can dance outside on the plaza and watch performances by artists from around the world). Juilliard is located here; so is a campus of Fordham University. Foodies will want to check out Zabar's and Fairway , two of the city's most renowned culinary outlets. While the architecture is often gorgeous (check out the Ansonia , on Broadway north of 72nd Street), it's the people-watching that's really great here--but be prepared to keep moving or get out of the way, as the crowd moves quickly and this is still the domain of sharp elbows and sharper retorts.
Upper East Side:
59th St. to 96th St., East River to Fifth Ave.
Famously safe, charming, green, and beautiful, but other neighborhoods offer those same virtues while also being cheaper and more densely packed with entertainment. A historically elite bastion of old money, the Upper East Side (59th Street to 96th Street between 5th and York Avenues) remains conservative and upscale. Quiet cross-streets are lined with beautiful apartment buildings (as is the "Gold Coast" of 5th Avenue facing the park, home to some of the most coveted addresses in the city); the avenues (particularly Madison Avenue) are dotted with posh hotels, upscale restaurants and high-end designer boutiques. Visitors find easy access to Central Park as well as the fabled “Museum Mile” section of 5th Avenue, home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art , the Guggenheim , the Whitney , the Museum of the City of New York , and the Cooper-Hewitt Museum of Design . This is a great neighborhood for dream-shopping and people-watching, if the luxe life is your thing; cruise the high-end shops on Madison Avenue, have a cappuccino and a salad in a cafe with tables facing the street. (If you want to do some actual shopping but can't afford the stratospheric prices, you might check out Bloomingdale's). At night, much of the neighborhood goes dark (safe but very, very quiet) with the exception of restaurants; but from Third Avenue over, far from the convenience of the subway and the elite status granted by Central Park proximity, the Upper East Side turns into one big frat party, rife with bars packed with preppie post-collegiate types.
Upper east Side is Sub-divided into 3 areas. All walking distance to each other but all different in history. You have the Yorkville Section Which is above 72nd Street to 96th Street between Lexington and 1st Avenue. Carnigie Hill Section above 72nd Street to 96th Street between 5th and Lexington Avenue. The Upper Yorkville Section, Above 96th Street to 106th Street between Park Avenue and 2nd Avenue
East Village:
Houston St. to 14th St., East River to Fourth Ave.
Trendy and young but east of Ave. A can be sketchy, its still fine but there are safer places. The neighborhood with the highest concentration of bars in the city (if not the world) scores off the charts in all the expected areas: retail diversity, restaurant density, proximity to nightlife, and desirability to the creative classes, with only schools and affordability truly lacking. With a typical two-bedroom running at about $3,300 per month, it’s expensive. But thanks to nearby NYU, the East Village has more income and ethnic diversity than most of its neighbors. The East Village once was part of The Lower East Side has undergone gentrification and has lost its former edge. However, it is still a culturally diverse area with significant Polish and Ukrainian immigrant history and the restaurant row dubbed “Little India.” If you walk its narrow side streets, including St. Mark’s Place, you will discover numerous funky shops, and people-watching is especially fun in this colorful neighborhood.
Chelsea:
14th St. to 29th St., Broadway to Hudson River
Charming in some places (especially its 400-gallery art colony) and less so in others, including some pockets with high crime. Historically a residential area known for its writer and artist population, Chelsea (15th to 39th Streets between the Hudson River and Sixth Avenue) was the epicenter of the city’s gay life for quite some time; but as the neighborhood has become increasingly upscale, it's changed considerably. New York's hottest gallery scene inhabits the area's western edge, with haute restaurants to match. The Chelsea Market attracts foodie types from all over, despite its dark, dated design. A clutch of trendy clubs have taken up residence on and around 27th street and on the western edges of the neighborhood. Practice your golf swing or try a little rock climbing, or bowling at Chelsea Piers Sports Complex. Or, enjoy a harbor cruise on a warm summer night on one of the historic vessels of Classic Harbor Line. Once dangerous, then quietly residential, Chelsea has become very, very downtown.
Lower East Side:
Canal St. to Houston St., East River to Bowery
Reasonable and trendy but its filled with all the bars where everyone goes out so you're always in the middle of it which is good and bad. Suppose we told you about a neighborhood with some of the city’s best nightlife, along with outstanding restaurants and shops. It’s conveniently located in Lower Manhattan. It’s vital and energetic, gentrifying but reasonably diverse. And a two-bedroom apartment costs around $2,300 a month. Sounds too good to be true, but the numbers tell the story. Yes, the Lower East Side has some prominent warts: Its housing stock is fairly run-down. It’s noisy. And not everyone wants to live where they go out. But few other neighborhoods offer such a complete New York City experience at this price point.
West Village: Everything you want New York to be, but it is definitely expensive.
Sunnyside:
Greenpoint Ave. and First Calvary Cemetery to Northern Blvd. (along the census tract), 44th St. and Locust to Van Dam St.
Sunnyside is a hidden gem if there ever was one—though its communities of Armenians, Romanians, Indians, Bangladeshis, Chinese, Koreans, Colombians, and Ecuadorans have known about its attributes for years. It’s flat-out cheap (and not just by New York standards): A typical two-bedroom costs $1,300 a month. And that’s in a safe, quiet neighborhood with better-than-average schools that’s just sixteen minutes to Times Square on the 7 train. Although it’s a bit lacking in restaurants and nightlife, it’s a quick livery ride to both Greenpoint and Astoria.
Midtown West:
29th St. to 59th St., Madison Ave. to Hudson River
More cultural cachet than Midtown East, but much grittier, with modestly high crime rates (especially around Port Authority) and a high incidence of air, asbestos, and noise complaints.
Astoria:
36th Ave. to Twentieth Ave./Con Ed Power Plant/19th Ave., Ditmars Blvd./BQE /Northern Blvd. to East River
36th Ave. to Twentieth Ave./Con Ed Power Plant/19th Ave., Ditmars Blvd./BQE /Northern Blvd. to East River
Most Manhattanites know Astoria only for its beer gardens, but this large—about 170,000 people—and eclectic neighborhood has much more to offer, including reasonably priced housing, strong ethnic clusters that have weathered the first waves of gentrification, good shopping at both local markets and big-box retailers, and pedestrian-friendly streets. The downside is a lack of foliage and park access, as well as a commute that is reasonable to midtown but cumbersome to lower Manhattan.
Morningside Heights:
106th Street to 125th Street between Morningside Park and Riverside Drive
Bordered by Harlem and the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights runs from 106th Street to 125th Street between Morningside Park and Riverside Drive. A number of major educational institutions are located here: Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, Manhattan School of Music, and, most famously, Barnard College and Columbia University. The neighborhood boasts a park promenade along the river ( Grant's Tomb is located here) and some spectacular architecture, including the flying buttresses of the Riverside Church and the perpetually unfinished but breathtaking Cathedral of St. John the Divine , arguably the world's largest Gothic cathedral. Less exalted but perhaps still more interesting to couch
106th Street to 125th Street between Morningside Park and Riverside Drive
Bordered by Harlem and the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights runs from 106th Street to 125th Street between Morningside Park and Riverside Drive. A number of major educational institutions are located here: Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, Manhattan School of Music, and, most famously, Barnard College and Columbia University. The neighborhood boasts a park promenade along the river ( Grant's Tomb is located here) and some spectacular architecture, including the flying buttresses of the Riverside Church and the perpetually unfinished but breathtaking Cathedral of St. John the Divine , arguably the world's largest Gothic cathedral. Less exalted but perhaps still more interesting to couch
After quite a bit of research, I thought I'd try something fun and took a neighborhood quiz. You can take the quiz here:
http://quizfarm.com/quizzes/
And, here are my results!
And, here are my results!
You Scored as Inwood. Inwood is located on the northern tip of Manhattan. Inwood extends from 200th St (Dyckman St) to 220th Street. It is banked on all three sides by huge wild parks.
Inwood- 67%
Chelsea- 67%
Financial District/Battery Park- 56%
El Barrio- 56%
Alphabet City- 50%
Upper West Side/ Morningside Heights- 50%
Stuyvesant Town- 50%
Hell's Kitchen/ Theatre District- 44%
Harlem- 44%
Kips Bay- 39%
Upper East Side- 39%
Washington Heights- 33%
SoHo/ TriBeCa- 28%
China Town- 11%
I tied for Inwood and Chelsea. After having Rob take the test, he tied with Chelsea and the Financial District. So Chelsea residents, what do you think? Ready for a new neighbor?
